CHAMBERS: MURPHY AS GOOD AS ANY

Skipper delighted to see Town striker back among the goals and expects to see him continuing to hit the back of the net

Luke Chambers has hailed the red-hot form Daryl Murphy finds himself in- and is expecting the goals to flow for a while yet.

The striker has scored six times in his last three games and will spearhead the Town attack against Middlesbrough tomorrow evening, who will likely have David Nugent up front at Portman Road.

Skipper Chambers is expecting a tough battle against promotion-favourites Boro but is confident the Blues can continue their recent good form against Aitor Karanka’s side.

“Middlesbrough flexed their muscles in the summer and added some big name players, such as Stewart Downing and David Nugent,” the captain wrote in his matchday column.

“I’m well aware of the record Nugent has against Ipswich but if you want to be at the top end of this division, you have to get the better of these type of players- excellent Championship footballers. I know a lot is said of his record but it’s not something as players you think about.

“I think our strikers are up there as some of, if not the, best in the League and we’ve got the main man from last season in Daryl Murphy.

“He’s back amongst the goals and we always knew it would only be a matter of time before he started scoring again. When you see him day in, day out at training you see up close just how good a player he is and none of us were worried.

“I remember just one day in training during our ‘sticky patch’ in October he came out for training and everything just clicked for him. He was an animal- every shot he hit went in, his first touch was back, the way he was holding the ball up- everything really- and from then on it has just worked for him.”